Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/420

 on the enemy’s right and carried two important positions from which he could not be dislodged. The battle now became general all along the line. The steady roar of artillery and the incessant rattle of musketry told the desperate nature of the conflict. General E. W. Rice of Iowa, commanding a brigade in General Dodge’s Sixteenth Corps, crossed the Oostanaula below Resaca and making a fierce attack turned the enemy’s position at that point. During the night of the 15th the Confederate army retreated. The loss of the Union army in these engagements was about eight hundred killed and 4,000 wounded. In addition to the heavy loss of the enemy in killed and wounded 1,000 prisoners and eight guns were captured by General Hooker. The Iowa regiments did not suffer severely with the exception of the Seventh which had a sharp engagement at Lay’s Ferry. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins was again severely wounded.

On the 28th the Battle of Dallas was fought. Here McPherson was attacked and at one time his lines were broken. But Williamson’s Iowa Brigade came to the rescue and in a brilliant charge drove the enemy from the field. All through this campaign the Thirty-first Iowa bravely did its part. At Big Shanty and at Kenesaw it was engaged with the enemy, and again at Nickajack Creek. It moved with the army in the flanking movement to Jonesboro and participated in the numerous engagements which resulted in the fall of Atlanta. It joined in the march to the sea in November. On the 15th of December, 1864, Colonel Smyth resigned and the command of the regiment devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins. In January the regiment moved with the army northward through the Carolinas and participated in the capture of Columbia and the Battle of Bentonsville. In May it reached Washington and was in the grand review of the 24th. The active service of the regiment was ended but it was not mustered out until June 27th, being at that time stationed at Louisville, Kentucky. Upon its arrival